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What Bruno Fernandes did for Manchester United vs Everton sets him apart
An improbable comeback from 2-0 down saw Man United get a point against Everton on their last visit to Goodison Park.
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"Going down, going down, going down," crowed the Evertonians. Manchester United won't and eventually demonstrated why.
Even by United's own penchant for comebacks, this was one of their most improbable. They oscillated from farcical to phenomenal, earning a result that will have little significance to the table. Just ten points to the magic 40 mark now.
The United players were safe to approach the away end at full-time. They weren't after 70 minutes. The final Goodison Park roar that greeted these teams had deterred this meek United side whose mentality was in pieces.
There were high fives at the completion of the warm up and another pre-match huddle. Hollow gestures not becoming of a serious side. It used to be United who beat teams in the tunnel. At Goodison, United seemed to be beaten in the tunnel.
They belatedly became serious, galvanised by Bruno Fernandes's game-changing free kick. Fernandes was performing so wretchedly he was bound to create something out of nothing. That is one skill that sets him apart from many of his teammates.
Manuel Ugarte's 80th-minute equaliser marked his first for United but did not merit a celebration. He sought the ball to restart the contest. Three points, for most of the game seemingly reserved for Everton, were suddenly in the offing for United.
VAR's added-time intervention denied Everton a penalty shot at victory when Harry Maguire was adjudged not to have fouled Ashley Young. Young exaggerated the contact but his shirt was tugged. United were fortunate the VAR, Matthew Donohue, did not stick with the on-pitch call to give a penalty.
United were led into the Goodison bear pit by their press officer. This is a club without a figurehead and lacking leaders. A football club reduced to a soul-sucking business by the leeching Glazer family and the callous Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Captain Fernandes provided that elusive leadership. He clipped an attempted winner in the 89th minute that Jordan Pickford tipped over. Fernandes, off balance, leapt up and sprinted over to take the corner. His indefatigability and mentality remain unmatched in this United squad.
The last time David Moyes was in the dugout for this fixture, he was on the away side and a man dressed as a Grim Reaper with a scythe stalked him. Ruben Amorim was at least spared that humiliation.
There would be no resurrection for Moyes after that Easter Sunday burial in 2014. He was unofficially sacked 24 hours later. Amorim will avoid that fate but his body language for much of this breathless contest was of an overwhelmed and resigned coach who does not believe in his squad of misfits.
Amorim dropped to his haunches frequently. His head dropped time and again. He turned away in disgust at Rasmus Hojlund ceding possession again. Moyes, a greyer and older peer by 21 years, looked as sprightly as a 21-year-old.
We have seen Amorim enough now to know that if he drops to ground level he is effectively conceding United's inferiority. The first half performance was United's worst since, well, against Leicester City two weeks ago.
The only respectable performer in that first half was Patrick Dorgu, bought for Amorim's singular system and not ground down by the omnishambles. Audibly backed by the away end he played in front of, Dorgu fashioned the only two openings United had before the interval and two Everton players were booked for fouling him.
Everton's farewell to Goodison is being savoured with safety all but assured. They are still in the midst of the managerial bounce that eluded United and are determined to give the Grand Old Lady a grand old send-off.
United have become the opponent teams are desperate to face. Ipswich Town will still fancy their chances of a first win at Old Trafford since 1984 on Wednesday. United have conceded first in 20 of their 40 fixtures this season.
Making the most of the sudden springtime forecast, Amorim ditched his padded Paul Smith jacket in favour of a hoodie. He outstretched his arms at Maguire unnecessarily hoofing the ball into the stands. Maguire erred again more fatefully when Abdoulaye Doucoure got the jump on him for the second goal.
Hojlund put his hands on his head. Andre Onana attempted to gee up his teammates. The gloves literally came off for Casemiro, already punch drunk. The United fans offered no applause for Casemiro, who admittedly got off the pitch promptly in the 63rd minute.
Amorim complained to his staff about the freedom Beto had been afforded for an aerial duel. Beto had more freedom moments later when he slammed the ball into the Gwladys Street net. That was from another set-piece. There was a game of head tennis from Everton's corner. United are top of the goals conceded from set pieces table.
Fernandes forced Everton to attack the Gwladys Street End in the first half and United supporters chanted about Wayne Rooney and Ji-sung Park. The antagonistic tactics did not cow Everton. The two former players would possibly put in more of a shift at Goodison in their current conditioning than some of the charlatans the matchgoers are subjected to these days.
United were not helped by Amorim benching their forward with the highest goals tally. Alejandro Garnacho has been unreliable in front of goal but he is more of a goal threat than Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee and the immediate rendition he was treated to upon his arrival signalled the fans' sentiments. Garnacho lifted United nearly as much as Fernandes.
Amorim is so dismayed by Hojlund that he sometimes appears to be on the verge of picking a fight with him. The ÂŁ72million striker has not scored in 16 games now and he was replaced by the 17-year-old Chido Obi on 79 minutes. There was an enthusiastic cheer from United fans followed by a first chorus of 'Chido, Chido, Chido'. Obi got a booking and a rollocking from his captain during an eventful second appearance.
Garnacho was the last player to enter the premises and trudged into Goodison, in stark contrast to his mood on the grand ground's turf last year when he left as a shoo-in for the Puskas goal of the year award. As dismayed as Garnacho was, he still posed for a photograph with the United mascot after the warm up.
That threatened to be the mascot's highlight. The lad won't be old enough to remember United's last title win 12 years ago. He could still never have imagined he would hear Everton fans singing "Going down" at them.
But they won't.
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